Sci-Fire 7th Legion/ Commander Faie Clone Armor Build
- Thread starter Art Andrews
- Start date
OK, a slight update. Started using the razor scraping method to sharpen the back. I have gone through one razor blade on the chest already and still not done with it. The back is starting to take shape, but as with everything else, I have a lot of work to go. I thought building something "perfect" would be fun as opposed to the wonkiness of a stormtrooper build... I am beginning to realize more and more that wonkiness leaves a lot of room for error where a perfect build does not. I am just hoping paint and weathering will cover my mistakes!
Replicant Shadow
Active Hunter
That's what I am aiming for on my build, for Celebration 5. Won't finish in time for SDCC 09'. That wonkiness leads to future damage, pinches in places, and overall fatigue when wearing for extended periods of time. Especially with the way clones are designed. That is another reason I am using magnets, to keep those parts in place precisley not only for the proper asthetic, but for ease of movement. That straight edge razor technique is cool, taking a crack at over the weekend. Backplate is looking good Art!
So, I started looking at the buttplate today, and did a basic trim of the flashing. No sharpening yet. All I can say is, if your butt actually fits this thing... whew... you got a BIG BUTT!!! I am going to have to do some SERIOUS surgery to get the butt plate to fit my skinny rump. I am very nervous as this is going to require major cutting... so I am just going to take it a bit at the time.
FettOfficer
Active Hunter
That's a sweet armor Art..
Well... since I am sizing pieces (really struggling with aligning the cod plate and the butt plate)... I took a look at the biceps... and then took 3" out of the bicep to make it fit! here is an after and before pic to show the difference in the circumference. After cutting so much material away, I had to heat the halves and press them back into a circular shape. I am very nervous about all the pieces working together since there are some pieces I can really cut to size and some pieces I can't.
stormtrooperguy
Sr Hunter
the size of clone armor has always been an interesting thing for me... most kits out there make me feel like i'm a 10 year old wearing grown up clothes
the first kit i owned (MG v1) was so big that when i connected the cod and butt plates together i could slip the thing down over my shoulders.
the first kit i owned (MG v1) was so big that when i connected the cod and butt plates together i could slip the thing down over my shoulders.
the size of clone armor has always been an interesting thing for me... most kits out there make me feel like i'm a 10 year old wearing grown up clothes
Haha. The Sci-Fire guys made their armor like this on purpose, to fit a vast number of people... cause, lets face it, people like me (relatively thin) fall into the minority of the prop community. Thankfully, the way this armor is constructed, you can take a ton of material away without actually taking away any detail. I am still nervous about it, but so far it has worked out. The cod plate it really killing me right now. The way it lines up to the butt plate is just baffling.
On a side note... having not worked with plastics a whole lot, I have discovered something... heating styrene with a heat gun might not be the best idea.... I have the absolute WORST headache this morning...
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Thanks, Mike! I keep inching along, just waiting to really screw something up... So far, it seems like I am doing ok, but I have a LONG LONG way to go.
I took several inches out of the bottom of the butt plate. It now fits considerably better and doesn't quite feel as much like a diaper as it did. I still might need to do some final tweaking so I can walk around without it cutting into the back of my thighs. Here are pics of before and after.
Replicant Shadow
Active Hunter
I myself removed alot of material on the biceps, and as a result they are now to tall in appearance, over referrence. I am going to use wide shims to recapture the width prior to finalizing the seam. I have the same issue with the butt plate, now I can study yours before I execute final trimming on mine.
Replicant Shadow
Active Hunter
you be silly Chase . You "Hot" Fox LOL
So, I finally got in my glue that John from Sci-Fire recommended. It is Weld-on #4807 Styrene Glue. You can get it here:
http://www.rplastics.com/weldon4807.html
This is a SOLVENT Cement which really holds the parts together incredibly well, but it does melt the plastics a bit, so be warned!
This is NOT a fast-setting glue and your pieces need to be fairly flat and match up fairly well... Most of all, make SURE you pieces are in the correct position because once this glue cures, there is no possible was of disjoining the pieces!
Because I cut so much material out of the biceps, they no longer created a circle but had a somewhat football shape with the joins being pointed.
I used a heat gun (be careful of the fumes!) to mold them into a more cylindrical shape, then added a strip of styrene to the back to support the joint. I used 60 grit sandpaper to roughen the surfaces to be glued then used a small paintbrush to apply a heavy coat of the glue to both surfaces.... gave it about a minute and then stuck them together.
Because my surfaces aren't perfectly flat I still needed to use clamps to hold the pieces in place for 24 hours until the glue fully cured. After an hour the initial curing was done but I gave it a full 24 to insure it was set.
Below are photos of the outside and inside... still messy and not at all cleaned up, but I wanted you to get an idea of what it looked like.
NOTE: After trimming down the two halves, I laid a full sheet of 150 grit sandpaper on a flat surface and ran the freshly cut edges of the pieces over it. This created a smooth flat joint that matched up with very little gap. Don't just rely on making a straight cut! Sand until it is perfectly straight so you have very little gap to fill later!
http://www.rplastics.com/weldon4807.html
This is a SOLVENT Cement which really holds the parts together incredibly well, but it does melt the plastics a bit, so be warned!
This is NOT a fast-setting glue and your pieces need to be fairly flat and match up fairly well... Most of all, make SURE you pieces are in the correct position because once this glue cures, there is no possible was of disjoining the pieces!
Because I cut so much material out of the biceps, they no longer created a circle but had a somewhat football shape with the joins being pointed.
I used a heat gun (be careful of the fumes!) to mold them into a more cylindrical shape, then added a strip of styrene to the back to support the joint. I used 60 grit sandpaper to roughen the surfaces to be glued then used a small paintbrush to apply a heavy coat of the glue to both surfaces.... gave it about a minute and then stuck them together.
Because my surfaces aren't perfectly flat I still needed to use clamps to hold the pieces in place for 24 hours until the glue fully cured. After an hour the initial curing was done but I gave it a full 24 to insure it was set.
Below are photos of the outside and inside... still messy and not at all cleaned up, but I wanted you to get an idea of what it looked like.
NOTE: After trimming down the two halves, I laid a full sheet of 150 grit sandpaper on a flat surface and ran the freshly cut edges of the pieces over it. This created a smooth flat joint that matched up with very little gap. Don't just rely on making a straight cut! Sand until it is perfectly straight so you have very little gap to fill later!
Art, great job! I am enjoying watching your progress.
a secondary method for sharping the edges: I roughed up the surface area around the edges with course sand paper. I then applied magic sculpt to the leading edges. Let dry and sanded it down. I have yet had any pop or crack off. The dry time took longer than the sanding and shaping did.
a secondary method for sharping the edges: I roughed up the surface area around the edges with course sand paper. I then applied magic sculpt to the leading edges. Let dry and sanded it down. I have yet had any pop or crack off. The dry time took longer than the sanding and shaping did.
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